$500 bonus for one group

Nearly 500,000 Australians will be eligible for a rebate worth hundreds of dollars in a bid to offset a major price hike expected on July 1.

All Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders will receive up to $500 per household in energy bill relief from the federal government.

From July 1, electricity prices will increase between 20 and 25 per cent for those in NSW, southeast Queensland and South Australia.

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released its final determination on Thursday, with the revised hike higher than the March draft of 20 to 22 per cent rise.

AER chair Clare Savage said it had been a “difficult decision” but high wholesale energy costs continued to drive up retail prices.

“No one wants to see rising prices, and we recognise this is a difficult time, that’s why it’s important for consumers to shop around for a better deal,” she said.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the scheme would “help older Australians keep more money in their pockets”.

Following the AER’S announcement on Thursday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had “lied” to Australians about energy prices.

“Let’s be very clear about it, he promised on 97 occasions your bill would go down by $275,” he told Today show host Karl Stefanovic.

“I think the government’s completely underestimating how much families and small businesses are hurting at the moment.”

Mr Dutton also referred to suggestions that rising energy prices were caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “nonsense argument”.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles pushed back on the opposition’s comments, accusing Mr Dutton of “making stuff up” and saying the Liberal Party had voted against the $500 relief plan.

“When that war started, no one was imagining that it would still be going today in the way that it is,” Mr Marles said.